With its racing debut in 2016, Haas F1 Team is the first American Formula One team to hit the circuit since 1986. Founded by Gene Haas, the team is based in Kannapolis, NC. Haas is the founder of Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America, and he is the chairman of Haas F1 Team.

Successful management and leadership of the quality department for an organization involves an integrated approach that includes a communication network that extends both horizontally and vertically within the organization as well as outward to customers and suppliers.

When the temperature drops, so does the ability of many cars and trucks to safely and smoothly operate. To prevent this, automakers often turn to winter testing facilities and quality testing companies to verify their products’ durability and drivability on icy roads, through snow, and in temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius.

Machine vision systems consist of several component parts, including illumination, lenses, camera, image acquisition and data transfer, and image processing and measurement software.

John Jennings describes how he once had to deal with an unusual problem. A pregnant employee came to him and said that a coworker put a curse on her unborn child. He asked the other coworker, did you put a curse? When the coworker said yes, he told them, “You have to take it off.” So they did.

The electronics industry is driven by the trend for more GOPS (Giga-Operations per Second) per mm3. This requires smaller technology nodes in wafer manufacturing, a drive to advanced packaging, as well as back-end inspection of the smaller interfacing components like micro-bumps, distribution layers, etc.

Two interfaces—GigE and USB—have been dominating the machine vision industry for the last five years. One supports long cable lengths and easy integration of multiple cameras, while the other offers higher bandwidth and true plug-and-play convenience. 

Manufacturers are grappling with multiple challenges—global competition, evolving quality standards, regulatory compliance, and profitability—not to mention a demanding, informed consumer. With no room for inefficiency in managing operations, companies have to rely on internal business processes to effectively support the enterprise.

You may be unfamiliar with the term “optical shaft metrology.” But you’ve no doubt experienced the advantages of this technology. Traveling by car or airplane, for example. In fact, it might surprise you to learn that anytime you’ve used a machine with an electric motor, a turbo charger, fuel injection, precision bearings, transaxles or spindles, chances are good you’ve benefited from optical shaft metrology.

I’ve commented on this subject from time to time but thought I’d have another go at it since the questions never seem to go away. I’m referring to the language used in our day-to-day work in measurement and calibration.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. According to Ty Webb, “The shortest distance between two points is a straight line…in the opposite direction.” 

They are two distinct phrases with two different meanings. But does your organization treat them that way?

Certainly, quality professionals play an important role in their organization’s pursuit of improvement and customer satisfaction. However, managers must ‘walk the talk’ in pursuit of customer satisfaction.

When several devices need to be accurately sequenced in a machine vision system, the usual solution was to program a PLC to generate the necessary signals. However, a PLC is a significant investment and requires specialist knowledge to program the Relay Ladder Logic. 

Bruker announced the release of the Luxendo MuVi SPIM CS light-sheet fluorescence microscope for imaging optically cleared samples. The MuVi SPIM technology allows fast, long-term imaging of large samples with highest resolution and optical sectioning, as well as minimized photodamage.

The machine vision industry is primed for continued growth in the coming decade. Built on the rapid advancement of smarter, smaller, faster and cheaper sensors and processors, the industry was estimated at about $7.9 billion in 2017. By 2023, it could grow to about $12.29 billion, according to according to a study by Research and Markets, growing at an annual rate of almost 8%.

USB Type-C, also known as USB-C, is the latest USB connector developed by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). It was designed to gradually replace all previous USB connector types¹, including USB Type A, Type B, Mini and Micro USB. Since 2015, USB Type-C has been widely adapted in a great number of laptops, mobile phones, and storage devices in the consumer electronics market.

Due to the vast number of imaging lenses that are available on the market, actually choosing a lens for a given application can be a daunting task. Part one of this article covered the most common types of lenses used for machine vision.

Profile sensors and smart cameras are two products with different technologies that have some overlap in their applications. This can make it difficult to determine which to use and when. 

Mitutoyo America Corporation announced the release of the DP-1VA Digimatic data logger and printer to its data management systems product line. The DP-1VA will replace the DP-1VR.

Teledyne e2v announced the expansion of its Snappy family of image sensors with a new 5 Megapixel device. The SnappyTM 5M is designed for barcode reading, 2D scanning and other demanding applications. 

Zygo Corporation has announced the introduction of its latest generation of ZeGage™ 3D optical profiling instruments providing precise and rapid non-contact measurement of surface topography for enhanced quality and process control.

Teledyne DALSA introduced its newest Genie Nano cameras with eight new monochrome and color models built around the industry’s best performing SONY® image sensors. These industry-first 5-Gigabit GigE Vision cameras feature resolutions from 3.2Mpixels to 12Mpixels with more models to follow before the end of the year – including a 5Mpixel Polarized model.

Released in spring 2018, Allied Vision’s Bonito PRO is a new camera series combining high-resolution sensors with a high-bandwidth CoaXPress interface.

The Inspekto S70 offers powerful quality assurance capabilities in a small, versatile and practical package. Suitable for any handling method, product type and material, the S70 is up to the job, no matter what the visual QA task.